FIRM STRATEGIES P.S. By Ronald A. McKenzie


This is an ongoing story of encounters between the King, everyone’s favorite owner; his architect, Slide Rule; and his contractor, Igor. Characters are inspired in part by Gary Larson’s Far Side.


The King and his entourage were walking


and enjoying the bright and sunny day in the Market Square. The King was particular happy as his Kingdom was prospering. Buyers and sellers were busy haggling over prices in animated happy voices. Suddenly the King recognized his favorite architect and builder, Slide Rule of Building Blocks Inc., the head architect for the Castle, and Igor, from Moat Designs Ltd., the general contractor for the Castle. “Greetings on this fine day,” said the King.


“So, what’s going on, if I may ask?” Slide and Igor immediately rose to greet the


King, while other traders and buyers looked on, envious of the friendly relationship they had with their King. A chair was immediately made available for


the King. “Good morning your Majesty. We were sitting


here reviewing a business letter that Igor has written. It’s an important letter to a client asking to provide his construction services to them. It could mean a lot of money to Igor.” “Very good. Igor, may I also look at the


letter?” Igor smiled. “That would be great. You prob-


ably get many of these letters, and you might have some helpful hints.” Slide handed the letter to the King, who took it


and read the letter carefully. The King looked up. “Is this it?” Igor looked surprised. “Why yes. Is something


missing?” “Well, to start, you really didn’t introduce


yourself to the reader, and there’s no subject line to tell them what the letter is about. In addition, you don’t really tell the reader the benefit of your services. It appears you want his business, but


8 METAL ARCHITECTURE


you never really asked for the order. On top of all that, there’s no P.S.” “So, no P.S. Big deal.” “Do you know what the P.S. means?” “No idea, your Majesty.” “P.S. is an abbreviation for Postscript, meaning


additional information, in this case, at the end of a letter. It can help you make money.” “So?” asked Slide. “It’s the most important part of the letter.” “How so?” “First, let me ask you a question. How does one


read a letter?” Slide and Igor looked at each other and realized


that another Master Class was now in session. Igor and Slide again exchanged glances. “It’s a


trick question,” whispered Slide to Igor. “I heard that,” said the King. “I’m going to ig-


nore it for the time being. The way someone reads a letter is they glance at the logo of the company, and their eyes slide down to who it was addressed to, then glance at the subject line, then read the first several words of the first sentence, then drop immediately down to the signature, and then read the P.S.” “Really?” said Igor. “Yes, studies have been done on how people


read letters, and more often than not, the P.S. is read before the body of the letter is read.” “Why?” “Because it tells the reader the subject of the


letter very quickly so they can determine how seri- ously they’re going to pay attention to the main body of the letter.”


December 2012 www.metalarchitecture.com “So, that would mean you actually should put


something very important in the P.S.” “Very good, Igor.” Igor swelled with pride. “So, what kind of ideas


should I put into the P.S.?” “What are you selling?” “Construction services.” “So, perhaps the P.S. should read … P.S. We


have helped many businesses with their projects, and consistently have shown them ways to save money, whether it’s new construction or renovation work, both commercial and industrial. We can also talk about life cycle cost analysis as a way for your building to become attractive to a buyer.” “Wow, that’s great. I’m really impressed.”


P.S. The King and the Moat Contractor is a


parody on the modern business environment. Sometimes it’s more fun to read a short story and learn a simple business lesson, rather than read a thick overweight textbook.


With the exception of an occasional guest


appearance by the author, any similarity to actual events or people living or dead is purely coincidental.


Ronald A. McKenzie is president of COMPASS Consultants Corp., a strategic planning and market- ing company specializing in developing business growth. He is a published author and has made nationwide presentations on the subject of strategic planning and marketing. He resides in Las Vegas and can be reached at ramckenzie.compass@gmail.com and www.compassconsultantscorp.com.


Mike Stanfill


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